Silja Anja, mezzo-soprano

Anja Silja, mezzo soprano, was born in Germany. She began with vocal studies already at the age of six and gave her first concert at the age of 10. She began her career in Braunschweig at the age of 16 with roles like Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini), Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos (R. Strauss) and Micaela in Carmen (Bizet). In 1958 she began performing in Stuttgart and Frankfurt and in 1960 Wieland Wagner brought her to Bayreuth, where she debuted with Senta in Der fliegende Hollander (Wagner), followed by many other Wagner heroines including Isolde in Tristan und Isolde, Brunnhilde in Der Ring des Nibelungen, Elsa in Lohengrin and Venus in Tannhauser. Her repertoire also included roles like the Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflote, Konstanze in Die Entfuhrung aus den Serail (Mozart), Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana (Mascagni), Leonore in Fidelio (Beethoven), the title role in Lulu and Marie in Wozzeck (Berg), Janacek heroines such as Emilia Marty in The Makropulos Case and Kostelnicka in Jenufa, Klytamnestra in Elektra (R. Strauss) and many others which she performed in all leading international opera houses including Vienna, Zürich, Milan, Barcelona, Berlin, Hamburg, New York, London, Paris and others. In recent years she has moved to mezzo soprano repertoire. She has numerous CDs and DVDs to her credit. At the Israeli Opera she performed the role of Anna I in Die Sieben Todsunden (Weill).